Alderney's West Coast and Burhou Islands Ramsar Site

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In 2005 the region West and Northwest of Alderney was designated the first Ramsar site in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Alderney's Internationally Important Wetlands

Alderney and Burhou achieved the Ramsar designation through their regionally, nationally and internationally important populations of seabirds. In particular the islets of Ortac and Les Etacs support over 2% of the world population of Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus).

http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/360 - take in a wide range of landscapes from the rugged uplands of north-west Scotland to the floodplain meadows of the Home Counties and the rocky shorelines of the Isles of Scilly and Alderney.">

In order to maintain this designation the Alderney Wildlife Trust (on behalf of the General Services Committee (GSC) for the States of Alderney) put together a 5 year management strategy in 2006, which was then followed through from 2007-2011.

The work carried out by the Alderney Wildlife Trust focuses on seabird and marine monitoring work, with terrestrial and public awareness activities also a part of the management strategy. Known as the Alderney West Coast and Burhou Islands Ramsar Site Management and Monitoring Strategy (or ARS1), it was reviewed and renewed in 2012 for the period up to 2016 and is now known as ARS2.

Since 2005 data has been collected on 10 seabird species for population size and productivity success rates; marine habitat mapping is carried out in new locations each year and terrestrial surveys are becoming a larger part of the monitoring work. The recording of this data is continued, and expanded, each year by the Alderney Wildlife Trust in order to better understand the ecological processes of the Ramsar site and conserve its diversity within the convention guidelines.

All of the data gathered is not only used in the management of the Ramsar site but also in providing resources for the LIVE: Wildlife Webcams interactive education project.

The existing data can be found in the latest reports on the Ramsar site which are downloadable in pdf format at the bottom of the page.

The Wildlife Trusts '360 Virtual Tours' take in a wide range of landscapes from the rugged uplands of north-west Scotland to the floodplain meadows of the Home Counties and the rocky shorelines of the Isles of Scilly and even us down here in Alderney.